I am selling my Balanced Audio Technologies (or BAT) VK-500 solid state amplifier. This is a dual mono amplifier but it is all in one chassis. It does require the use of two power cords. One could (in theory) cut this in half and it would still operate, but I would not suggest it.
This amp is in very good condition and I am rating it an "8" mostly for age. The VK-500 is rated at 250 watts per channel (WPC) into 8 ohms, 450 WPC into 4 ohms and I believe it is rated at 600 WPC into a 2 ohm load. This is a beast of an amp weighing in at 105 pounds. My amp has the optional BAT-PAK which means this amp has energy storage of 1100 joules. This amp also uses N transistors exclusively. The designer/engineer, Victor Khomenko, outdid himself on this amp! It is a brute to be sure, but like a lot of large men, this amp can also be light on its feet, so to speak. It can drive the most stubborn of speakers with ease, and yet, sound powerful, and yet, delicate on speakers that are an easy load. I love this amp! It is as if someone took the best of tubes, and the best of solid state, and brought them altogether in one large amp called the VK-500.As one can tell by the name, this is a balanced amplifer through and through. Hence, the only inputs are XLR inputs, no RCA's. That said, if there is someone who wants to purchase this amp but only has RCA interconnects, I have a pair of XLR to RCA adapters I can give you with the amp. And yes, if I love it so much, why sell? I really do not want to, and if it remains I would not be disappointed. But, truth is, I have too many amps, not enough room, I could use some spare "audiophile" play money so this will be the piece to be sacrificed. I was also hoping to locate some Apogee speakers at some time and use this amp to drive them as it is one of the few amps that I believe could drive a set of Stages or the like and still have "gas" left over after driving those 2 ohm loads. As mentioned, this amp weighs in at 105 pounds so I am not looking to ship it. I am willing to drive a reasonable distance to deliver it so please contact me if you live in the Seattle area or other cities say within 150 miles or so and we can discuss a road trip to deliver the amp. The VK-500 has been in storage for the last few years, only coming out on occasion to insure that it operates as intended and it does, and it does it well! I have a large Classe case with handles, rollers, foam padding and clamps on the case that I would be willing to let go with the BAT for an additional $50. The BAT fits in the case nicely and it makes for easy storage or movement. Trust me when I say that a 105 pound amp is not an easy thing to schlep around. I think that covers it with this exception, and I never had to include this until some recent events in my audio life: this amp works as intended. There are no implied guarantees or warranties with it. I do guarantee that it will work. This amp never blew up my power panel, ate anyone, fried anything or caused any medical issues (unless you drop it on your foot and that will hurt). It has driven nicely some Dynaudio speakers, some Tannoy speakers, some DALI speakers, and never destroyed a single one. Read the review in the information URL. I am open to offers but silly ones will be ignored. This amp (in its day) was over $6K and nowadays BAT is charging over $16,000 for the current version of this amp with the BAT-PAK. Though the newer model is rated at 300WPC/600WPC I doubt that one could tell the difference without going deaf. Thank you for looking and again, please feel free to email with questions.
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